Sergeant Who Shot Two Men Says He Feared a Weapon

By MICHAEL WILSON and OREN YANIV

Published: March 10, 2004

A New York City police sergeant who shot two unarmed men fleeing an arrest in East Harlem on Monday night thought he saw one of the men reaching toward his waistband for a weapon, the police said yesterday.

Devon Williams, 24, the man who the sergeant said appeared to be reaching, was struck in the left thigh and the arm, the police said, and the second man, Wayne Maxwell, 27, was grazed in the left hand. A pair of scissors and a cellphone were found near where the two men were struck, the police said.

Two sergeants and several patrol officers responded about 5:30 p.m. on Monday to a call to a vacant apartment at 248 East 120th Street made by the building's superintendent, who had complained of drug activity, the police said. But the superintendent's key to the apartment did not work.

''Somebody looked out of the peephole and closed it, and we heard running around inside,'' said the superintendent, Ramon Ballistero, 38, who has had the job for two weeks. As Mr. Ballistero used a screwdriver to loosen the door, he heard glass breaking inside, he said, and the sergeants and four officers pushed through.

One of the four suspects spotted at the scene jumped out a window, somersaulted to the ground and limped away, the police said. Another, Junior Green, 24, of Brooklyn, was dangling from the fire escape and was arrested. He had previously been arrested at the same address on a trespassing charge, the police said.

One of the sergeants, identified by law enforcement officials as Juan Solla, stuck his head through the window and shouted, ''Police! Don't move!'' before he began firing a total of 10 rounds, the police said.

Jose Crespo said he had just left a friend's apartment nearby. ''The next thing I know, somebody fell out of the window trying to escape from the cops,'' Mr. Crespo said.

Nelson Rivera, 37, who lives in a building opposite the vacant apartment, said he went to his window when he heard glass shatter. ''The cops said, 'Stop.' They stopped, and then he just unloaded. It was uncalled for,'' Mr. Rivera said.

Both of the injured men were arrested, as was Mr. Green. All three have prior drug arrests, the police said. The police recovered about two pounds of marijuana in small bags, they said.

The sergeant who fired had not discharged his weapon in the line of duty before, the police said.

''The case is still under investigation,'' said Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association. ''I believe that upon completion of the investigation, the actions of the sergeant will be cleared and explained.''